Strengthening Efforts in Africa

African health leaders discuss next steps. Photo by Elizabeth Jackson

African academics and public health leaders met with Harvard colleagues for two days in June to work out details for a collaborative research and training network. The workshop, “Advancing Collaborative Education and Research in Africa,” was held in Boston and brought together participants from Botswana, Ethiopia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda.

The group discussed developing a collaborative PhD program and increasing opportunities for post-doctoral training. They also considered how to establish more joint research projects and how best to utilize existing demographic information and surveillance systems.

The workshop was convened by the Africa Health Alliance at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), an initiative charged with strengthening public health research efforts between Harvard and institutions within Africa, and the African Academy for Public Health, a Harvard-affiliated organization based in Tanzania with the mission to improve health in Africa through collaborative research, training, and capacity building.

The workshop was generously funded by a grant from the Medtronic Foundation.